The unique odor given off by a dead or dying tree attracts many species beetles, wasps and other insects who are eager and quick to deposit their eggs in the newly deceased wood. The larvae consume starches and other nutrients as they tunnel their way through the tree tissues leaving that sawdusty frass behind them. These pale helpless humble workers are an engine driving decomposition and nutrient cycling in a forest, also playing a role in forest succession and being a favorite snack for woodpeckers and others.
